Slow to Rise, Quick to Fall
by Anneliza
Summary: Francis is a rising ballet star with a beautiful wife. After one of his performances, he attends a party which leads to his downfall.


Francis was in his element. Surrounded by beautiful men and women, clad in the finest clothes money could buy, hair perfectly pulled into a bun except for a few loose curls dangling about his face. He had a lighthearted smile on his face and was enjoying the conversation which flowed easily and comfortably among the mass. Occasionally he would get called away to dance with some young lady, some shy and nervous others determined and somewhat brash, and would excuse himself to allow the woman a dance or two, always giving them a kind smile and a kiss on the hand before rejoining the waiting throng of people.

She watched disdainfully as yet another woman approached him. She hadn't wanted to come but Francis had dragged her along, promising to leave before too late and allowing her to observe from afar in a lofty balcony. The party was following a ballet performance that Francis himself had starred in, he was the best dancer in all of France and was one of the few performers of the recently introduced art. His boss, King Louis XIV, had brought it to France from Italy and adored the art which had led Francis to it. The dance style had been perfect for him and he had started training immediately, quickly becoming the best.

It was nearly ten at night and the party had been going for hours, surely it was nearly over. She abhorred these parties, watching everyone fawn over Francis got boring quickly, so she skipped them as often as she could. Unfortunately she had been unable to miss this one since Francis had nearly begged her to attend.

Out of the corner of his eye Francis noticed that Alice wanted to leave. She was getting antsy and couldn't seem to sit still in her chair. Sending her a wink, noticed by no others, he let her know that he was nearly ready to leave as well before noticing another person had appeared in the balcony behind her.

Confused by the curious look on Francis' face, she turned to see an attractive woman in a dress that seemed far too revealing, glaring at her.

"May I help you?" she asked, trying to be polite but not truly caring what the woman wanted.

"Why are you staring at Francis from here?" the other woman responded, sounding a bit angry. "You hide from him and then expect his attention?"

Resisting the desire to roll her eyes at this clearly jealous woman she instead replied with, "I can get his attention I just do not desire it at this moment."

"You?" the woman snorted, unimpressed. "Catch his attention? How?" She made an obvious show of looking Alice up and down. "You can catch his attention with what? Your plain dress? Your unruly hair? Your peasant face? What about you would catch his attention?"

Anger started to rise inside of Alice but she was a lady and did not allow such taunts to distress her.

"You see what you want to see in me," she said calmly. "What you see as plain he sees as decorated. What you see as unruly he sees as adventurous. And what you see as a peasant he sees as a queen." She turned her back to the woman, not wanting to spend another moment on the woman's jealousy.

The woman simply stared at her, eyes wide.

"You are in love with him," she realized. "You poor child. He would never fall for someone as ordinary as you. You are not of his world like the rest of us are." She paused. "To be honest I do not know how you even were allowed in here."

"My husband was invited and he brought me along as much as I would have wished to stay home."

She continued to watch Francis, ignoring the woman.

"You are a little liar. You snuck in here, did you not? That is why you are hiding up here! You wanted to watch your love flirt with everyone but you since you were not invited you had to stay hidden!" The woman moved toward her. "Get out of my party!"

"It is not your party," Alice replied, still not looking at her. "It is his."

"I cannot believe you! How dare you speak to me in such a way, you peasant! I insist you leave at once!" Stepping forward until there was only a foot of space between them, she roughly pushed Alice towards the edge of the balcony.

Francis had just finished up his conversation with the mass of people, all sad to see him go, and had turned to send Alice a smile which meant they could leave but noticed she was not in the balcony anymore. Instead she was falling through the air and her mouth was open in a scream her voice did not produce.

Without thinking he ran forward and dropped to one knee, sliding a bit on the ground, to catch her in his arms. Unfortunately the sudden extra weight on his extended leg caused it to snap and he dropped to the floor, still holding Alice. He groaned and set her carefully on the ground next to him, letting his hair fall out of its loose bun and shield his face.

The woman who had pushed Alice suddenly appeared beside Francis, shoving Alice out of her way in the process.

"Francis!" she cried, dropping down next to him and making him look in her eyes. "Francis, dear, are you alright?!"

Looking up, Francis recognized the woman and gently removed her hands from his face.

"Excuse-moi," he started, panting a bit from pain and his sudden dash. "But please do not touch moi. Not after you attempted to kill mon amour."

The woman looked confused.

"What are you talking about? This peasant should not even be here."

"This…this 'peasant' you speak of is my wife, my love. You nearly removed her from my life and I will not allow this. What is your name?"

"Umm…A-Anna…Anna Bristol…"

Francis smiled at her, though a little pained.

"Je suis desole but Anna Bristol I must remove you from my invitations. I cannot allow someone who would treat my wife in such a way. Please escort yourself out."

She gaped, stunned. She couldn't be thrown out, she just couldn't. She was the one meant to be with Francis but he was saying this woman was his wife. It didn't make sense.

When she remained where she was Francis waved some men over to lead her out of the room. As soon as her back was out of sight, he dragged himself over to Alice and pulled her to his side.

"Mon cher, are you alright?" She nodded. "Bon. I was worried."

"Francis, what about you? How is your leg?"

He looked down at it, grimacing as he noticed the odd angle it was in. Raising his eyes back to make contact with hers, he replied, "It does not matter. All that is important to me is that you are alright." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Come on, lapin, I think it is time for us to retire for the night."

A few female guests helped Alice to her feet while their husbands picked up Francis and gently carried him out to their carriage. Once he had been set inside, all of the men went back to the party except for one who waited to help Alice into the coach as well. The door was closed behind her and she sat down just as the vehicle started moving.

"Francis, you need a physician to see about your leg. I am worried that it may be more serious than you make it out to be."

Giving her a somewhat pained smile, Francis waved her over to his side of the carriage, pulling her into his arms once she did so.

"If it will set your mind at ease, I will do so."

"Thank you, dear."

Carefully leaning over, he gave her a light kiss.

"I love you, Alice."

She flushed and looked away, wishing she had not left her fan at home.

"I-I love you too, Francis."

* * *

AN: I'm not sure how long I'm going to make this but it will be at least another chapter or two.


End file.
